Bluffton man saves child from drowning in Mill Creek pool

A Bluffton man is being hailed as a hero by his neighbors after he saved a 21-month-old girl from drowning on Friday afternoon.

Frank Szczepanik, Mill Creek resident, said he was spending his afternoon at the pool when he saw the girl floating face down in the water.

“I was walking by the lazy river and I saw what I thought was a doll,” he said.

Szczepanik said the unresponsive girl was already blue and bloated when he took her out of the pool. He laid her on her side and started performing CPR.

By the time EMS arrived, the girl had her eyes open and was crying, Szczepanik said.

According to a report from the Bluffton Police Department, the mother of the child said she and her husband were there with the girl and their newborn. The mother was nursing the newborn and thought her husband was watching the girl.

The girl was conscious and breathing but was taken to Hilton Head Hospital as a precaution, according to the police report.

Szczepanik said he learned CPR while serving in the Army National Guard.